Page 73 of The Wolf King

“Let me help,” says Callum.

“What?”

He stands awkwardly beside the bookshelf. His height and broad shoulders seem too big for the small room. His head almost touches the ceiling.

When he drags his teeth over his bottom lip, an uncharacteristic vulnerability flashes behind his eyes.

“Blake said you were still aching. And the way you were walking up the stairs...”

“It’s unsettling that you know these things, you know?”

He offers me a lopsided grin. “Aye. Not much is private around here. Imagine being a young pup, up to no good, and your mother being able to hear your racing pulse as you lie to her about your whereabouts.”

“Were you often up to no good?”

“Oh, always.”

I let loose a soft laugh, and his eyes brighten.

I shift from one foot to the other, suddenly very aware that we are alone in my chambers after nightfall. I swallow.

“It’s not bad, the aching. Blake said if I went to his chambers, he would give me something for the pain.”

Callum’s expression darkens. “Blake was trying to provoke me. I doubt he has anything that could help. The wolf inside us fights off most pain relief. And if he did have something, it’d be in the infirmary, not his bedchambers.” A sheepish look crosses his face. “But I can help you, if you’d like?”

“How?”

He nods at the bed. “Lie down. On your front.”

“I will do no such thing!”

He laughs, softly. “I mean no harm, Princess. Nothing improper, I swear it. I promised you no one would touch you, and that extends to me.”

I eye him suspiciously. “Well, what are you going to do?”

“Just massage some of the tension out of your muscles.”

“That seems like you’d be touching me.”

“Aye, I know... but it’s not... I mean... it’s not like I’d be...” He shakes his head. “Ghealach! You’ve got me tongue-tied.”

He looks down at his feet. When he runs his hand over the back of his neck, there’s a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“What I mean to say, Princess, is that I’m offering a massage purely for its medicinal properties. Just as a healer might offer a soldier treatment after battle. If you want it, that is?”

He shifts his weight from one foot to another. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this arrogant, powerful alpha was nervous.

I suppress my smile. Why does that give me so much satisfaction?

I glance at his hands, by his sides, and my amusement disappears as I imagine them on me. They’re so big and strong, I can’t help but wonder what they would feel like. It would be wrong for me to let him touch me like that. I’m not supposed to let anyone touch me.

But it’s not as if anyone would ever know. And if it’s for medicinal purposes...

Heart racing, I lie down on my front on the bed. “Okay,” I whisper.

He sucks in a deep breath before approaching. The mattress dips as he sits down beside me, and a wave of his heat washes over me. He smells like the outdoors and the mountains.

Tentatively, he brushes my hair off my neck and I tense.

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